“A friend of mine,” writes a correspondent, “does not believe that any of the blessed Saviour’s invitations, ‘Come unto Me,’ nor any of the ‘Comes’ in John’s Gospel, are applicable to the present day, and also that you cannot preach the gospel from the parable of the prodigal son, &c. &c. Matthew 22, ‘Come, for all things are ready,’ is stoutly refused, &c. &c.”
It seems a waste of time to discuss such a matter. Wait until your friend enters the heavenly courts and sees the myriads that have reached those scenes of light and peace and joy, not through hypercritical and hair-splitting theology, but through earnest, even if it be faultily-expressed, appeals — he will then know whether these blessed “Comes” had any present-day application. Thank God they have, as multitudes can testify.
But Matthew 22:2-142The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. 7But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22:2‑14) should not be so dogmatically refused. Immediately following the parable of the householder and the vineyard, it forms a beautiful sequel; the former shows man’s responsibility under law; the latter, his responsibility under grace. Man’s “Come, let us kill Him,” is answered by God’s “Come unto the marriage.” What soul-subduing and heart-captivating grace is here — altogether lost by such cold criticism as your friend indulges in. Let him try it, if he has never done so before; let him go forth amidst the perishing masses around him, with a heart overflowing with a sense of the Saviour’s love that led Him even to death, and of God’s infinite grace that, in spite of all man’s hatred, as shown at the cross, now sends a blessed invitation to a guilty world: “All things are ready; come unto the marriage.” Oh, for more of this earnest pleading!
As is well known, the Gospel of Matthew is essentially dispensational in its teaching. In the parable of the vineyard, we see God seeking fruit from Israel on the ground of law; this ended so far as they were concerned with the murder of Messiah, and their final judgment as a nation. In chapter 22 a new dealing commences, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son,” &c. Man would not have God when He came into his world (chap. 21); would man now accept God’s offer of glory with His Son (chap. 22)? When the Lord was here on earth, the kingdom of heaven was at hand. It had not yet been established, for this required His death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. Note, too, the difference between the first and second missions of the servants of the king. At their first mission the servants did not say, “All things are ready;” they simply called them that were “bidden.” But they would not come; it was even so in the case of the Jews before the cross.
But now what a change! “All things are ready; come unto the marriage.” The cross, it has been well observed, is the turning-point of the passage; on the basis of that mighty work God can now declare that all is ready. This testimony sounded forth after the ascension of Christ, first of all to the guilty nation of Israel.
The first mission was during the life of the Lord, whether directly through His own ministry, or through the twelve or the seventy; the second was after His death and ascension, through the apostles in the early chapters of the Acts. This Israel rejected, even as they had done the former, the result being a terrible outpouring of judgment both upon themselves and their city, Jerusalem (verses 4-7).
Then goes forth the call of God to all, whoever and whatever they may be — Jew or Gentile, good or bad. Your friend says, “In Christ’s time it was ‘Come;’ in the present time, it is ‘Believe.’” Matthew 22 is a clear answer that ever since the cross it has been both “Come” and “Believe.”
ED.
IF Jesus is coming — and surely ‘tis true —
What matters the trifles around us?
If Jesus is coming, we need not lament
When losing some things that surround us.
Yes — Jesus is coming, rejoice and be glad,
Not burdened with trouble or sorrow,
For Jesus is coming, His own to receive,
It may be today or tomorrow.
M. E. C.